Process of recovering sucrose from cane molasses



Oct. 8, 1929.

PROCESS OF RECOVERING SUCROSE -FROM CANE MOLASSES ALC@- HOL KECDVER'ED ALCOHOL PUMP WASTE Liquore "'.QNK

H. DE F. OLIVARIUS Original Filed Deo. 22, 1925 DILUTING TQNK . All

LIME

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vTANK lll FILTER Patented Oct. 8, 1929 TION 0F NEW YORK OFFICE I PROCESS 0F RECOVERING SUCROSE FROM CANE MOLASSES Application iled December 22, 1925, Serial- N'o. 76,965. Renewed Februaly 25, 1929.

This invention relates tothe recovery of' sucrose from cane molasses. The :object of this inventionis to provide an economical method for the recovery of sucrose from cane molasses.

It has been known that sucrose could berecovered from cane molasses by -first fermenting the molasses to eliminate invert sugar and then mixing the fermented molasses with alcohol, adding suflicient lime to the l solution to precipitate the organic and coloring matter without precipitating the sucrose, separating the precipitate'from the solution, and adding further lime to the alcoholic ltrate to precipitate substantially all of the sucrose as calcium saccharate. See U. S. Letters Patent No. 1,401,433 granted December 27, 1921, to me. y prior process was based upon the theory that this result was accomplished because of retaining the alcohol in the vmixture subsequent to the precipitation of the organic and coloring matter. and during the precipitation of the saccharate. sulting from retaining the alcohol for so long a period in the process Was objectionably hi h.

gOxides and hydroxides of earthy metals such as calcium, barium and strontium, have long been employed as agents for precipitating sucrose from beet sugar molasses, butl to my knowledge they have never been heretofore successfully employed for precipitating sucrose from cane sugar molasses except by precipitating the sucrose as a saccharate from an alcoholic'solution as above described. I have noW discovered that the precipitation of sucrose from can sugar molasses by employing oxides and hydroxides of earthy `metals as precipita-ting agents is not necessarily dependent upon precipitatingl sucrose as a saccharate from an alcoholic solution but rather depends upon the elimination of the invert sugar and organic and coloring matter' from the molasses prior to the precipitation of the saccharate. Apparently the invertsugar and certain organic bodies contained in cane mol'asses constitute interfering bodies that have heretofore caused the diiculty vWhen the recovery of sucrose from cane molasses has been of sucrose as a saccharate I found that the alcohol loss reattempted by employing earthy metal oxides and hydroxides as preclpitating agents.

,n y present invention renders practically applicable to the 'recovery of sucrose from cane molasses of methods that have been long successfully employed for theprecipitation from beet molasses. The object of my present invention is to provide a process for recovering sucrose from cane molasses, in which process the alcohol employed in precipitating certain interfering organic and coloring matter from the molasses is separated from the molasses prior to the precipitation therefrom of the saccharate.

My invention and discovery may be embodied in a number of different Ways and for the purpose of illustration I have set forth in the following description a preferred method of procedure embodying my invention and the same may be more readily understood by referring to the. accom anying drawing comprising a' flow-sheet dp the method thus described.

rst eliminate the invert sugar content of the molasses from which .the sucrose is to be recovered/and for that purpose the molasses is mixed with water ina diluting tank 1 and .the mixture passed to fermentin tanks 2. Yeast is added to the mixture in t e tanks 2 for the purpose of converting the invert sugar content of the molasses to alcohol and carbon' dioxide, etc. I havel discovered that there Referring to the drawing it is preferredA to epicting are certain advantages in employing a relatively highly concentrated( mixture of molasses and water in this fermentation process. If a relatively highly concentrated mixture of molasses and water be employed I have found that special yeast need not be employed and that ordinary yeasts will all function satisfactorily and that the usual Lconversion takes place without substantial loss of sucrose due to the inverting action of the` casts. I

have found that a concentration o mately 65 Brix -is well suited to my purposes.

After fermentation the mixture is'passed from the tanks 2 to a precipitating tank 5 and alcohol together with lime or other earthy metal oxi'tles or hydroxides-.are added to the mixture inl proper propertion to precipitate approxiioo preferably substantially all ofthe interfering organic bodies such as gums, waxes, etc., and coloring matter, 1n the' mixture without precipitating any substantial portion of the` 5 sucrose.

from that described in my patent aforesaid,

The mixture is then passed from the precipitating tank 5 to a filter press 6V for the separation of the precipitated bodies from the filtrate containing the sucrose.

The process to this point does `not differ except as to the concentration employed .and the fact that with proper concentration it 1s unnecessary to usev specially adapted yeast,

V but with the prior practice it has been conpumping The molasses from which the mterfermg sidered necessary to retain the alcoholiccharacter of the filtrate in the subsequent precipitating action to follow.

I have discovered that where certain earthy 20 metals areemployed as precipitating agents the filtrate discharged from the filter press 6 may be passed through a still 7 and the alcohol there separated and recovered in a suitable chamber 8. The alcohol may be re-used by it back to the precipitating tank 5.

vbodies such as invert sugar, gums, coloring matter, etc., have been removed, is passed to a precipitating tank 10 where an earthy metal oxide or hydroxide is added in4 properwproportion to precipitate its corresponding saccharat'e. The mixture from the precipitating tank 10 is then assedto a filter press 11 and the saccharate ltered from the waste liquor,

the latter passlng to tank 12. The saccharate 40 sponding carbonate and free sucrose.

methods.

conditions.

5t strontium are used as i is passed from the iilterpress 11 to a suspension tank 13 and is there treated with carbon dioxide from a suitable source of supply 14 to decompose the saccharateinto its co'rlrlee mixture of carbonate and sucrose is then assed to a filter 15 for separation and the ltrate (sucrose) thereupon evaporated, decolorized and crystallized by well known I have found `.that the' dierent earthy metal oxides( and hydroxides serve to the best advantage asn precipitating agents in the aforesaid process under somewhat xvarying Where calcium oxideor hydroxide is employed vas a precipitating agent for sucrose from a non-alcoholic solution the best results are obtained by employing a temperature notl exceeding 20 C. Where barium and the `precipitating agents, best results are obtained by precipi- 4 tating the saccharate at a boiling temperature,

These specilic methods of precipitation are recognized as old in the recovery of sucrose 1 60 from beet molasses and the present invention residesv not in such specific' methods of preclpitation perse butin the adaptation of the l same to the recovery of sucrose from cane molasses by rst purifying the molasses to eliminate interfering invert sugar and organic -\tion,

bodies such as above stated. No specific pro-4 portions are here given because the same vary with the composition of the molasses and should and may readily be determined by preliminary test and analysis.

It will be apparent that the advantages of the present invention may be accomplished in v part by only partially eliminating the interfering bodies above described, or by removing only a portion of the alcohol prior to the precipitation of the saccharateqand as these advantages are in part, as well as in whole,

due to the present invention the same is 1ntended to be covered in the following claims either when fully or only partially practiced.

I claim: y 1. The process of recovering sucrose from cane molasses which includes fermenting the molasses to eliminate invertrsugar, mixing molasses 11o-eliminate invert sugar, mixing -the fermented molasses with alcohol, adding an earthy metal oxide or hydroxide to the solution to precipitate interfering organicv andcoloring matter without materially precipitating the sucrose, filtering the solution to separate the precipitated organic and coloring matter, removing the alcohol from the -filtrate, and precipitating the sucrose from mineralV the nonalcoholic filtrate by an earthy oxide or hydroxide. x

3. The process `of recovering sucrose from cane molasses which includes mixing alcoh'ol with the molasses, adding an earthy metal precipitating agent to the mixture to precipi tate interfering organic and coloring matter without materially precipitating the sucrose, separating'the precipitated organic and coloring matter from the molasses, lseparating the alcohol from the molasses, andl then treating the molasses with an earthy metal precipitating agent at a suitable temperature to precipitate the sucrose therefrom.

4. The process of recovering sucrose from cane molasses comprising, mixing molasses with water -to form a solution of about 65 Brix, addinga yeast thereto, fermenting the solution to eliminate invert'. sugar without' materially invertingsucrose, mixing the fermented solution with alcohol, adding an earthy metal precipitatingagent to the mixtlire to precipitate` interfering organic and coloring matter wlthout materially precipitating sucrose, separating the precipitated orist garlic and coloring matter from the solution, separating the alcohol Ifrom the soltion, and then treating the solution with an earthy metal precipltating agent to precipitate the sucrose therefrom. Y

Signed at Palermo, Calif., this 9thI day of December, 1925.

HOLGER DE FINE OLIVARIUS. 

